Long considered one of Hollywood’s next great indie darlings thanks to her roles in films like Somersault, Candy, Stop-Loss, and Bright Star, Aussie actress Abbie Cornish’s latest batch of films have her headed in an entirely different direction. As Bradley Cooper’s love interest in the Limitless, which topped the box office the weekend of its release, Cornish proved that she has what it takes to share the screen with a real movie star. Whether or not she can become one will depend heavily on the success of Zack Snyder’s effects-laden Sucker Punch, her first real foray into big-budget movie-making.

Before Abbie Cornish made the move to Hollywood, she had become one of the top actresses in her native Australia thanks to a breakthrough turn in Somersault, which earned her the covetedAustralian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. But like her fellow countrywomen Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts, Cornish had her sights set on Hollywood. After various success on the festival circuit -- namely her award-winning performance as Fanny Brawne in Jane Campion’s Bright Star -- Cornish was primed for movie stardom, especially after Vanity Fair put her on the cover of their harbinger-of-big-things Hollywood Issue. So far, Cornish hasn’t disappointed, with a leading role in the box-office smash Limitless and upcoming roles in Zack Snyder’s 300-for-girls epic Sucker Punch and the Madonna-directed W.E.

Abbie Cornish Biography

By all accounts, Abbie Cornish is as grounded a celebrity as you’re likely to meet. The second of five children, Cornish grew up on her father's 70-hectare farm, where she and her siblings would explore their surroundings with the childlike curiosity that often produces artists. When Cornish was 13, she began modeling and landed her first job on ABC’s Children’s Hospital after her agency sent her to an audition. Cornish was hooked. She left home at age 16 -- the same year her parents split -- and set to live the life of a struggling artist in Newcastle. There, she attended high school with the goal of becoming a veterinarian while taking acting gigs on the side on shows like Wildside and Outriders.